Will Obama’s pursuit of executive power backfire?

posted at 9:31 am on February 2, 2014 by Ed Morrissey

In his State of the Union message on Tuesday, Barack Obama promised “a year of action,” inadvertently echoing Richard Nixon in both rhetoric and perhaps tone. Obama threatened that if Congress didn’t come along on his agenda, he’d take unilateral action to impose it instead. This has the potential to backfire on Obama, Stephanie Simon argues at Politico, by firing up the Republican base even more in a midterm election year:

Obama’s use of executive power could come back to haunt him.

Republicans in Congress, infuriated at being bypassed, are using every shred of authority they can muster to try to halt or delay the president’s agenda. At the very least, they figure, they can whip up public outrage, drive down Obama’s approval rating and perhaps persuade him to retreat.

The executive agenda outlined in the Politico Pro report — which described an administration eager to shape everything from the content of third-grade math tests to the recipe for Reese’s Pieces to the fuel sources that power our homes — spooks voters, and not just Republicans, said Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah). “This is something that people react to viscerally,” Stewart said. …

Republicans have also filed lawsuits and legislative amendments trying to rein in executive power. One resolution calling for the House to take stronger legal action is sponsored by Rep. Tom Rice (R-S.C.). He calls it the S.T.O.P. act – for Stop This Overreaching Presidency.

Big business and big industry have stepped in, too. They’ve sued to overturn regulations. They’ve also sought to delay the rule-making process by demanding more time to evaluate draft regulations — and then flooding agencies with comments.

Republican outrage has focused on executive orders, but that’s a little too narrow and a bit misplaced. The White House has been careful to keep EOs within the boundaries of executive power, if perhaps testing it at the edges. The EO on the minimum wage for federal contracts, for instance, lives within those boundaries even if (a) it won’t actually impact more than a handful of people anyway and (b) is bad policy nonetheless.

The real issue with the abuse of executive authority comes in sins of commission and omission that have nothing to do with EOs. For instance, the most egregious abuse is the war Obama launched against the Qaddafi regime in Libya without ever bothering to ask Congress for authorization. But there are plenty of other examples closer to home, especially in the arbitrary adherence to statute in the President’s own favorite law, ObamaCare, and many other examples of regulatory adventurism, as noted by Simon. That, plus the defiance of Congressional oversight by lawless recess appointments and the abuse of executive privilege, have made this into a truly imperial presidency, and has set precedents that Democrats will almost certainly rue, and sooner rather than later.

The only strength gained by unilateral presidential lawmaking is raw speed: policies can be implemented more swiftly by unilateral presidential action than by congressional deliberation and debate. But the dangers are many, and should counsel any American — of whatever political persuasion — that such dispatch comes at a high constitutional cost.

When the president fails to execute a law as written, he not only erodes the separation of powers, he breeds disrespect for the rule of law and increases political polarization. The president’s own party — for example, the current Democrat-controlled Senate — will face intense pressure to elevate short-term, partisan victory over defending constitutional principles. If partisan preferences prevail, Congress will be unable, as an institution, to check presidential ambition and defend its lawmaking prerogative.

Once such precedent is established, damage to the constitutional architecture is permanent. The next president of a different party will face similar pressures and undo all the previous actions. He will initiate a new round of unilateral lawmaking, satisfying his own political base. The law will fluctuate back and forth, and our legislature will become little more than a rubber stamp for a single elected individual, which is not how representative government is supposed to work.

The reason this will backfire is that imperial presidencies only impress the loyal base of the President’s party, who mistake autocracy for wisdom. They tend to worry and frighten everyone else, especially when the result is the unmistakable incompetence of this administration on both domestic and foreign policy. Expect the backlash on all of these points this year.

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My question to anyone dumb enough to support this evil traitor’s power grab is a Republican is probably going to be President in a few years, do you want someone from the other party wielding that same power?

My question to anyone dumb enough to support this evil traitor’s power grab is a Republican is probably going to be President in a few years, do you want someone from the other party wielding that same power?

Flange on February 2, 2014 at 9:34 AM

Exactly. An important question for the last 100 years, ever since Woodrow Wilson came on the scene.

Is this a power you would be comfortable with your political opponents having?

O-Care fails that test, as does The One’s way of forcing his agenda.

The GOP is hardly blameless here, though. They have had several episodes of this sort of over-enthusiasm, from Nixon’s wage-price freeze to the Patriot Act.

When the latter was being pushed, I opposed it. When asked why by GOP acquaintances, I replied, “Two words; President Hillary”. That invariably stopped them in mid-rant.

The only reason to pursue powers of this sort is an absolute belief that you, or at least your crowd, will never be out of power again. Or that you can use the power, or others, to destroy any opposition.

Considering The One’s background, previous statements, egotism, narcissism, and delusions, I think it is safe to conclude that this is precisely what he believes.

“Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony…you can’t expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you!”

My question to anyone dumb enough to support this evil traitor’s power grab is a Republican is probably going to be President in a few years, do you want someone from the other party wielding that same power?

Flange on February 2, 2014 at 9:34 AM

A Republican would never get away with the kind of lawlessness this regime gets away with. The dems in Congress, en masse, and the democrat media would be shrieking for impeachment and the people would soon follow. The dems know this. Come on. Ted Kennedy KILLED a woman, and thanks to the media was a hero. Bill Clinton violently RAPED a woman, and thanks to the media is a hero. Get real. Dems don’t pay for their sins, and Republicans don’t get away with theirs. Obama is softening the Constitutional ground for the next democrat president. That’s all.

The biggest problem is that Congress has abdicated its responsibility and delegated too much of its power to administrative agencies. If you don’t want an executive dictating the Reese’s Pieces recipe, don’t give the FDA the authority to do so.

And when the media complains that X is illegal, just trot examples A,B,C,D,E,F,G,H,I,J etc. of obozo doing the same with their support. And then undo all of obozo’s damage. Of course the GOP should already be doing this with Christie compared to obozo’s behavior. A spine is needed so no Bushes in ’16.

Ted Kennedy KILLED a woman, and thanks to the media was a hero. Bill Clinton violently RAPED a woman, and thanks to the media is a hero.
Rational Thought on February 2, 2014 at 9:47 AM

A big reason Dems don’t “pay for their sins is because the Repubs let them get away with it. Clinton’s name should be prefaced with “rapist” when he is brought up, and Teddy should be called “swimmer” or “killer” when his name is brought up. But the Repub politicians on Sunday shows and in interviews don’t do that & let them off the hook.

A big reason Dems don’t “pay for their sins is because the Repubs let them get away with it. Clinton’s name should be prefaced with “rapist” when he is brought up, and Teddy should be called “swimmer” or “killer” when his name is brought up. But the Repub politicians on Sunday shows and in interviews don’t do that & let them off the hook.

My question to anyone dumb enough to support this evil traitor’s power grab is a Republican is probably going to be President in a few years, do you want someone from the other party wielding that same power?

Flange on February 2, 2014 at 9:34 AM

The problem with hoping for that is the fact that repubs are doing nothing to challenge the process now. As soon as the shoe is on the other foot, the progressives with march in loud lockstep taking towers of legal briefs to each and every court possible, all with an “outraged” msm, and many hour long specials every other day driving the meme of “Shredding the Constitution”.
The repubs never learn what works, and actually seem to set traps for themselves to fall into down the road. They are either really stupid or they don’t really care, or they are basically on the same side as the progs.

That’s not a problem at all. Let the libs sue and get those types of laws/rules/reg.s/E.O. ruled unconstitutional. That’s exactly what I want. Then all of the liberal/obozo shenanigans will be instantly struck from the books. It would be libs destroying their own rules.

That’s not a problem at all. Let the libs sue and get those types of laws/rules/reg.s/E.O. ruled unconstitutional. That’s exactly what I want. Then all of the liberal/obozo shenanigans will be instantly struck from the books. It would be libs destroying their own rules.

Flange on February 2, 2014 at 10:30 AM

I agree, but my point was why always wait for the progs to set the direction. Whatever the progs can do the repubs should be able to do. In the meantime the rulings and the power associated with them and the changes in the direction of society remains untouched. The damage done.
There should have been papers filed and obviously malignant power grabs stopped years ago.
I understand what you’re saying, but it is, imo, just another manifestation of the gop’s “We’ll get ‘em next time”..”This is a strategy..we got ‘em where we want ‘em now!”….”This is not the hill to die on”, etc.

Libfreakily- you’ll get yours. Karma’s a bit*h. An R will be back in charge and losers like you will no longer get your monthly freebies…then you’ll whine and gnash your teeth.

But freak I realize you ignore the take home:

The reason this will backfire is that imperial presidencies only impress the loyal base of the President’s party, who mistake autocracy for wisdom. They tend to worry and frighten everyone else, especially when the result is the unmistakable incompetence of this administration on both domestic and foreign policy. Expect the backlash on all of these points this year.

I agree they should have always been fighting. The hill you’re on is as good as any other hill to die on. But that’s a related, but different topic. All my original post was asking was do liberals feel ok giving that type of power to a Republican President?

That’s not a problem at all. Let the libs sue and get those types of laws/rules/reg.s/E.O. ruled unconstitutional. That’s exactly what I want. Then all of the liberal/obozo shenanigans will be instantly struck from the books. It would be libs destroying their own rules.

Flange on February 2, 2014 at 10:30 AM

And the next democrat prez will violate those new laws, the media will cheer them on, and the GOP will do nothing. And on and on and on.

I have no idea how congress can be upset about growing executive power. They have been proactively abdicating their legislative authority (illegally, I’d argue) for decades. For them to complain about it now is ridiculous.

I agree they should have always been fighting. The hill you’re on is as good as any other hill to die on. But that’s a related, but different topic. All my original post was asking was do liberals feel ok giving that type of power to a Republican President?

Flange on February 2, 2014 at 10:54 AM

I see what you mean. In replying to your post, I would have been more on topic to state my belief that if a repub were to become POTUS, the power allowed and encouraged by the dems and the courts nowwould not be allowed, and if the repubs refuse to get in a little practice in fighting them now , it’s a moot tactic later imo.

backfire? are you kiddin’ me? nothing sticks to this shithead. he could fell473 a baby goat in time square and loop it on the jumbo trons for 96 hours and at hour 97 no one would know what the hell you’re talking aboout. “president…goat…what???? you’re a racist, goat lover hating gun freak.”

Wake up to what? That the dems are dishonest and power hungry while the GOP is spineless? Nothing will ever get fixed if the right doesn’t fight back, hard each time. I’m not suggesting that everything is fine just electing a Repub. But if they’re willing to fight, it’s actually easy to defeat the media/libs. For example, next time Jesse Jackson accuses someone of being racist hold a press conference in front of a large screen TV. And the minute it starts press play. The TV comes on with a video loop of Jesse calling New York Hymie town, saying he wants to cut obozo’s balls off and that he fears having blacks walk behind him. Set the speakers on 11 and sit there staring at Jesse. I totally agree that Deaddy Kennedy should have always been referred to as a murderer and Bill should always been referred to as a rapist.
Answer every question about Christie with a question about how is that different from obozo.

Both you and Rational are right about the state of the current GOP and media. And that the right needs to fight, on all issues, every time. If they’re willing to do so, I think it would be fairly easy to destroy the dems right. Use their own words against them. Overt and over again.

Problem for you is that your Cult Leader is on record (figuratively and literally) as promising that he would never “nullify Congress” to enact stuff your fellow Democrat Loons have been bawling for. Which proves what we folks on Planet Reality have known since 2007-the man is an Unusually Good Liar.

“Somebody keeps on yelling, ‘executive order,’” Obama said at a Democratic National Committee fundraiser in San Francisco.

“I’m going to actually pause on this issue because a lot of people have been saying this lately on every problem, which is just, ‘Sign an executive order and we can pretty much do anything and basically nullify Congress,’” he said to some applause. “Wait, wait, wait. Before everybody starts clapping — that’s not how it works. We’ve got this Constitution, we’ve got this whole thing about separation of powers and branches.”

-snip-

“So there is no shortcut to politics. And there’s no shortcut to democracy,” he said. “We have to win on the merits of the argument with the American people. As laborious as it seems sometimes, as much misinformation as there is out there sometimes, as frustrating as it may be some times, what we have to do is keep on going, keep on pushing. And eventually, eventually we move in a better direction.”

During his first term, “when folks said we couldn’t end ‘don’t ask, don’t tell,’ in fact, a bunch of people yelled, ‘executive order,’” Obama recalled. But he saw legislation — and not an executive order — as the right option and chose to pursue it. “I decided, well let’s try to actually pass a law. And we did.”

Sounds like he’s now treating you Democrat Cultists with as much contempt as he does the rest of us!

One big issue regarding EO’s is immigration.
If the GOP_E signs on to any immigration bill however weak this open door will allow the regime to EO it to death adding any and everything they ever wanted lawful or not. Remember law to these clowns is whatever the can make up and we don’t protest legally. And be sure they will.
It could mean the end of the party should Hillary get elected.

Everyone hates Congress but loves their own congress person. So either the public must believe that their representative is succumbing to bad influences or their own wishes are not taken seriously by his highness.

I think it would be fairly easy to destroy the dems right. Use their own words against them. Overt and over again.

Flange on February 2, 2014 at 11:22 AM

I agree. They would be completely caught of guard. They’ve never had to defend themselves in an actual fight. They are so used to winning without a fight, that they have become fat, lazy, playing the same moves for so long.

I’ll go one step further (and do not mean to associate you with my radical thinking on this).

The Media is the Enemy Within.

In classic Alinsky fashion, they have cynically used our own rules against us, meaning the First Amendment. They have used the First Amendment as a shield against retribution for their subterfuge. They actually have zero regard for the First Amendment – witness their passivity, if not overt support, when Fox News and Rush Limbaugh are maligned and threatened with being silenced.

The bottom line is that the Media in this country is effectively all powerful and is intentionally destroying the country. They are the absolute enemy and need to be destroyed by whatever means necessary. Every other attempt to restore sanity in this country is, of course, necessary and worth doing, but pales in comparison to dealing with the fundamental problem – the Media.

I am afraid there may not be a downside to so called Democrats abusing executive power ad infinitum. I believe they correctly assume that when Republicans gain power they will demure at using these expanded power grabs and will instead shrivel back placating the Democrat-Media complex by pointing out how “civilized” and “humble” and “respecting the constitutional limits on their power” they are. And then the next so-called Democratic president and Senate majority leader and Speaker of the House will resume their relentless drive to enslave the rest of us using ever more drastic power grabs counting on the acquiesce of stacked courts and scared Republican opposition.

In classic Alinsky fashion, they have cynically used our own rules against us, meaning the First Amendment. They have used the First Amendment as a shield against retribution for their subterfuge. They actually have zero regard for the First Amendment – witness their passivity, if not overt support, when Fox News and Rush Limbaugh are maligned and threatened with being silenced.

justltl on February 2, 2014 at 12:08 PM

Speaking of Goebbels, former New York Old Grey Whore Theatre Critic Francine Rich has been getting bombed with Maureen Dowd again, and she has a new column out:

In truth, Fox News has been defeated on the media battlefield—and on the political battlefield as well. Even the 73-year-old wizard of Fox, Roger Ailes, now in full Lear-raging-on-the-heath mode as -portrayed in my colleague Gabriel -Sherman’s definitive new biography, The Loudest Voice in the Room, seems to sense the waning of his power. The only people who seem not to know or accept Fox’s decline, besides its own audience, are -liberals, including Barack Obama, whose White House mounted a short-lived, pointless freeze-out of Fox News in 2009, and who convinced himself that the network has shaved five points off his approval rating.

-snip-

Rather than waste time bemoaning Fox’s bogus journalism, liberals should encourage it. The more that Fox News viewers are duped into believing that the misinformation they are fed by Ailes is fair and balanced, the more easily they can be ambushed by reality as they were on Election Night 2012. We are all fond of quoting the Daniel Patrick Moynihan dictum that “everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.” But we should start considering the possibility that it now works to the Democrats’ advantage that Fox News does manufacture its own facts.

(Of course, Francine Rich fails to cite any credible examples of same, because she cannot.)

My question to anyone dumb enough to support this evil traitor’s power grab is a Republican is probably going to be President in a few years, do you want someone from the other party wielding that same power?

Flange on February 2, 2014 at 9:34 AM

Those who support Obama’s power grab already own a moral compass that both sees no problem in giving Democratic presidents near-dictatorial powers, while demanding that a Republican president be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors at 12:02 p.m. on January 20 immediately after taking the oath of office.

They’ve so convinced themselves that Republicans (even RINOs) are so evil that anything their side does is good, and any violations of law are just, because the other side deserves it.

Sounds like he’s now treating you Democrat Cultists with as much contempt as he does the rest of us!

F-

Del Dolemonte on February 2, 2014 at 11:23 AM

Actually what that sequence proves is that within his own mind, BHO decides what the law is and when it is. And it is entirely intentional.

We’ve already seen plenty of examples of this “in action” regarding O-care implementation and recess appointments.

I believe we are closer to an authoritarian police state than we have ever been. And this attitude trickles down through federal, state, and even city agencies and organizations.

This is the “change” he “hoped” for, government involvement in every aspect of life. When that becomes common practice in even the hinterlands, it really does not matter what a piece of parchment somewhere says about rights.

My first recognition of the power and ill-intent of the Media was during the Vietnam War. They were clearly the force behind sabotaging the war. I recall thinking at the time that the actual protestors of the time were basically useful idiots who had little to no clue what the actual issues were, but mindlessly followed the drumbeat of the Media. Walter Cronkite in particular was a very influential and very devious and lying bastard in this regard- research the Tet Offensive and his broadcasting regarding it as a prime example.
Since that time, the Media has overtly promoted and supported every single cause that has been antithetical to the founding principles and health of this country. How have they stood regarding morality in general? Religion? Abortion? The family? Work ethic? National defense? Taxation? Government control and invasiveness? Crime? Farces such as global warming? Second amendment rights? True free speech? Voter fraud? Illegal immigration?

Think about any single issue that they promote and support and ask yourself if it is beneficial or detrimental to the country. Their promotion and support of Obama is a prime current example and possibly their biggest achievement to date.

I’ll go one step further (and do not mean to associate you with my radical thinking on this).

The Media is the Enemy Within.

In classic Alinsky fashion, they have cynically used our own rules against us, meaning the First Amendment. They have used the First Amendment as a shield against retribution for their subterfuge. They actually have zero regard for the First Amendment – witness their passivity, if not overt support, when Fox News and Rush Limbaugh are maligned and threatened with being silenced.

The bottom line is that the Media in this country is effectively all powerful and is intentionally destroying the country. They are the absolute enemy and need to be destroyed by whatever means necessary. Every other attempt to restore sanity in this country is, of course, necessary and worth doing, but pales in comparison to dealing with the fundamental problem – the Media.

justltl on February 2, 2014 at 12:08 PM

I 100% agree. The media is the enemy, and has been for a long, long time. Unfortunately, we have an opposition party that is far more interested in fluffing its vanity by appearing on their shows — usually to malign fellow conservatives — than in freezing them out completely and looking for other avenues to reach the people. There is such a simple, simple, simple solution to destroying the democrat-media complex: Make it entirely an echo chamber. If EVERY GOP candidate and elected official simply stopped appearing on their shows, stopped answering their questions, stopped ALL CONTACT with them and went to New Media instead — and explained over and over that they do not appear on those shows because the hosts and owners work for the democrat party — the old media would die. Oh, it would be an ugly death, lots of sound and fury, but then they’d die — or change.

My question to anyone dumb enough to support this evil traitor’s power grab is a Republican is probably going to be President in a few years, do you want someone from the other party wielding that same power?

Flange on February 2, 2014 at 9:34 AM

Depends which type of liberal we’re talking about.
Some liberals that are intellectually honest – yes, there are some – do understand the risk and realize this type of precedent could come back to bite them. But that doesn’t mean they’re actually willing to withdraw any support for Obama either. After all, Republicans are still the root of all evil.
But there’s the other type of liberal that just does not understand – let alone agree – that some of O’s actions are illegal. They only see Obama as trying to “help the people” (altering Obamacare) so all is well. Or… they may have Bush equivalency syndrome and would never agree Obama is doing anything worse. Or he’s just being persecuted for being black…and no, they won’t even entertain any other thought.
In many instances, the legalities and facts are quickly dismissed, rationalized away.. or just doesn’t even enter into the thought process.

… and ultimately remind the people that the government authorized under the US Constitution is by definition a limited government, with checks and balances shared across three equal branches of government.

The EO on the minimum wage for federal contracts, for instance, lives within those boundaries even if (a) it won’t actually impact more than a handful of people anyway

You are wrong. Union contracts are tied to Federal Government contracts wage scales, and so this will force a rise in union minimum wages. It is an end run around congresses prerogative, and not just an administrative detail.

He could have done this for military personnel, who if you divide the lowest wages by 2080 hours make far less than 10.10… But he hates the military, so he won’t.

He’s a tinpot dictator with delusions of grandeur. And Kirk was a better actor too!

But when you remove the Margin of Bias, the Democrats’ Congressional Approval would be much, much lower.

What is the Margin of Bias I speak of? The Party of the Congressional Democrats controls the Democrat National Media, and thus controls how “news” about what Congress does is “reported” to the masses.

As a result (and NewsBusters can back this up with hundreds of hyperlinked examples to the original stories) whenever a Democrat in Congress gets into trouble, either ethically or legally, the Democrat Media will not report the Party identification of said member of Congress, or if they do, will bury that Inconvenient Truth in the 6th paragraph. On the other hand, when the perp is a Congressional Republican (and again, NewsBusters has plenty of evidence), that person’s Party ID will be mentioned in the very first sentence, and if not there in the very first paragraph.

Ad such non-reporting as the fact that the Democrat Senate refuses to produce a budget, and only a Low-IQ Democrat Voter would refuse to admit the built-in institutional media bias towards the Democrat Party’s members of Congress.

It won’t matter because the GOP will continue to pursue immigration and 9 million more Democrats will be allowed the vote and another Dictator will be taking over. The end of the GOP as we know it will be the only cure for this!

Executive Orders should be viewed as temporary, since they can be immediately countermanded by another more responsible president. No statute is created.

Also, because they are written without wide consultation, they can often conflict with the reality of the facts-on-the-ground, so they become de facto futile statements of executive aspiration (hope?).

Since consensus is not part of this process, the president can hardly enlist full-throated and active support from those he did not involve in his process. He will get lip-service from many legislators of all parties.

As for the judiciary, I guess they can rule on EO constitutionality if presented with a case, but I don’t think they are set up read the mind of the imperial president.

The only people who seem not to know or accept Fox’s decline, besides its own audience, are -liberals, including Barack Obama, whose White House mounted a short-lived, pointless freeze-out of Fox News in 2009, and who convinced himself that the network has shaved five points off his approval rating.

Did this cow pie of non-sentence actually make it into a paper? Rich can’t even get subjects and verbs to agree with him. How embarrassing…such a hack.